I will admit I did not react the best. I screamed loud enough and high pitched enough that all four winced. That allotted me enough time to prepare my pillow for a good and proper beating before being eviscerated. Which was a real fear as they were people in the same sense that Heather was a person.

Governor Awla did not have legs. It is hard to take in more about a person or your surroundings when one of the people moving towards you floated like a ghost. The long white dress that matched well with her dark flowing hair did not help the matter. I was more than willing to bet that if she opened her mouth it would extend the length of her body before consuming me whole.

That was all I could focus on before I was tackled from behind. I blinked at the fact I did not end up in two pieces. Rather, it just was incredibly painful and disorienting. I mentally thanked Magic for that and the benefits of internal mana.

I am sure that whoever was on top of me positioned my limbs into something painful. I could not tell on the account of all the other pain my body was informing me. I wished Heather were here as at least then I could be hurting in the way my aggressor wanted me to, instead of the accidental pain they applied.

As I thought of what Heather did, something happened. A warm glow feeling began at my skin and slowly worked inside of me. With each breath, I felt more of that warm glow penetrate my being and slowly provide relief. I only realized the extent of the healing when I got jerked to my feet. The wave of pain that applied to me gave me hope that I would not end up as an unwilling contortionist in the future. Or I could at least repair myself if I were.

Before I could be frogged marched out of the room, I heard a melodic voice. That, I will admit, is doing it a disservice. I have enjoyed a variety of music, but this was unlike anything I have heard before. It mixed bird song with a concerto to create not words but pure meaning. That meaning flowed through all of us as we interpreted the message of peace and tranquility.

I was allowed to turn to see my savior. The Emperor stood there, next to the three other people, with a smile on her face. Unlike most people I had seen so far, she looked human. The only part that felt off was how ideal she was. She looked like my ideal woman. She stood a head shorter than me, in a lovely shoulder-less black dress with all the frills. Her hair was done up in ways that you only saw from celebrities at red carpet events. Its color ate the light but still showed more waves than the ocean. Her body was just the right size to hold if either one of us needed to collapse. She was beautiful and did not have a distinct face.

I will admit the last bit took longer for me to register than it should have. But before me looked like the woman I often fantasied about at my lowest points. That included the perfect lips that formed a gentle sardonic smile, and nothing else. I was never great with faces, so she never had eyes, ears, or a nose. And the Emperor was missing those exact same features.

That caused me to jerk my eyes away and focus on the other three. Governor Awla had a sense of otherworld about her. It was not just the fact she could be mistaken for a ghost. Her skin had a mother-of-pearl consistency and her features looked carved. She had a sharp nose that jutted from her face at nearly a 90-degree angle. Her mouth looked like a deep crevasse. But her eyes were human. They were green with whites and pupils and properly shaped.

General Andre was a sphinx. His head rested atop a lion’s body. He had a larger mane than Bastar did with eyes like Bastar. Only instead of blue, they were a deep amber. He was also smiling at me, showing fangs much like Bastar’s. But most notable was his size. He was easily three meters tall and five long. A quaking smile grew on my lips as I took in all of him.

Commander Errol was much like General Andre. Only instead of a human head atop a lion’s body, it was a human head atop a dragon’s body. Not a fantasy dragon, but Komodo dragon. His eyes were deep black with barely the hint of anything other than the pupil. Instead of eyebrows he had pronounced ridges. Instead of a nose were two tear-drop shaped nostrils. His mouth looked human, except for the tongue that would flitter out occasionally.

Emperor Bobo spoke again and once more it was not words. She smiled as her voice ran like bells that ended with a lilt.

Who are you? She conveyed.

“I am Vee,” I replied with an attempt at a bow. It failed for two main reasons. The first was that I never practiced bowing before. The second was my arms were still being held by the guards. “I have been sent here to end the threat to the land.”

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“You are a warrior?” General Andre asked. His voice was a growl that began in his chest and ended in mine. It penetrated everything, leaving it felt as much as heard.

“I am not,” I responded truthfully.

“Then why were you chosen?” Governor Awla asked. Her voice matched her form. It sounded elegant and hollow, like an echo from deep within a temple.

“I do not know.”

Commander Errol chuckled at that.

“I suppose that is for us to figure out.” Errol continued. His voice slid through the room, constricting me as much as passing me. He made a motion with his head and I was released before returning to the seats.

I followed as they sat down and collected their drinks. Andre and Awla had the amber drinks, where the Emperor had what I figured was wine. Commander Errol skillfully picked up his glass with one clawed hand as he laid down in his chair, its aroma no less potent with me being closer.

Emperor Bobo made a noise and a servant entered, carrying a chair. Another followed shortly after with a platter of various liquids. I collected my pillow and made sure to sit on it. I was positive that it just grew with comfort as time went on. Not that the chair was lacking. It was as luxurious as the others. My pillow just made it better.

The platter had various drinks, all of which I had no idea of their content.

“Do you have a beer?” I asked.

The servant twisted the platter until one glass was presented to me. It had a deep red color with a strong caramel note. Taking a sip I could tell it was the best Irish red ale I had ever had. I sighed with contentment as one bit of normalcy returned to my day.

Now, what can you tell us? The Emperor asked.

“Not a lot.” I began before explaining my day so far. I stopped when Wuinal grabbed my finger, omitting an explanation about my internal sliders and Bastar’s opinions. The four listened patiently. All but General Andre had a polite smile where the General began to look more and more agitated.

“I don’t see how he will help us.” Andre started. “He isn’t a great warrior and knows nothing of this world.”

“But he was sent to us with the express purpose of helping us by the world itself.” Commander Errol countered. He took a sip of his drink to punctuate his point.

“And you have trained many warriors General Andre.” The Governor added. “One more will not hurt you.”

“I have heard that you have the militia drilling regularly. You could add me to them.” I supplied. I shrunk back as three pairs of eyes glared at me. The Emperor continued to relax in perfection as the other three continued the discussion.

I took the time to sip my drink and remain quiet. With a mental command, I played around with my mana sliders. Much as I expected, the mana I had invested internally was evenly applied to my body and mind. Looking deeper had a similar result. I briefly contemplated putting all my available mana to the smallest unit available, but I did not.

Mostly because I was worried if I could get the mana out of that part. Some because I was worried that it would drastically change before the leaders of the land. And a little because I was not sure if I even had those parts again. Because, as I reminded myself, Rule 1 dictated that Magic ran me now. And I doubted Magic really cared that much about my anatomy.

Instead, I slid the sliders some and attempted to move everything back to their original positions. It did not work the best. When I moved the slider on my bones up, the rest went down by the same amount. Returning my bones to the original level did not affect the other sliders at all. Instead, that mana disappeared as far as I could tell. I guessed it went back to external because as far as I could tell, my internal mana lowered.

A lull in the discussion broke me out of my experimentation. Luckily, instead of them stopping to ask me a question, each was waiting for their drink to be refilled. Except for the Emperor. Her glass looked untouched.

“Have you decided my fate?” I asked as we waited.

“Were you not paying attention?” Commander Errol asked, eye ridge raised.

I shook my head before taking a sip of my own drink.

“I was trying to come to terms with everything. I wanted to reflect if you decided to execute me.”

The commander chortled at that.

“You will not be executed.” Governor Awla stated. “We do not have the death penalty here.”

“Except for Chimeras” General Andre added.

“But they’re already considered dead, so it is less a penalty and more euthanasia.” Commander Errol countered.

“Whatever you call it, it doesn’t change the fact to change that far is to court death at every human’s hand,” Andre replied. He looked at me before continuing. “Vee, we decided you will be trained in the militia. From the sounds of it, you already met a potential ancient. I know little of this Bastar, but you will be placed under him. He will teach you to survive this world. And only then can we talk about you ending the threat to the land.”

The threat to the land… Emperor Bobo began. I did not understand the rest of what she said. The meaning seemed to elude me, like the name of a song you heard from your youth. But whatever she said, the others were nodding in agreement.

“I will oversee their training,” Errol added. Andre gave him a sharp look before Errol could finish explaining. “It will ensure the best of training for Vee and allow me to help Bastar in something unique.”

Emperor Bobo made a dark noise, resulting in a frown from Errol.

“I had forgotten about that,” Errol responded. “But since that is the case, I will work with you Andre to test Vee at certain points.”

Andre smiled as he nodded in agreement. The two warriors raised their glasses before finishing them. As Andre looked upon me, his smile fell.

“What are you still doing here? Go, start your training.”

With those words, I was lifted and dragged out of the room.